It feels like this will be a month that Aston Villa fans will look back on very fondly come the end of the 2023/24 Premier League campaign and our return this season to European action under manager Unai Emery.
At the start of the month we saw the arrival of Youri Tielemans as a free agent from Leicester City, and the next one through the door was 26 year old Villarreal centre half Pau Torres, who knows our gaffer well from their spell together out in the Spanish La Liga.
Things got a little more tasty on Thursday evening, as it was widely being reported that we had now struck a deal to bring in Bayer Leverkusen winger Moussa Diaby. The 24 year old ten capped French international has reportedly rebuffed an offer from Saudi Arabia to join up with Emery and test himself at Premier League level, and it is said he will shortly put pen to paper on a five year deal with us.
There is some debate about the fee as some say it is a 60 million Euro deal, others simply state 40 million Euro plus unspecified add ons.
Whatever the truth may be, we have upped our calibre here as Emery looks to build on what was an incredible first season in charge.
At Villa Park 🔜 #avfc pic.twitter.com/O3UYdrTOXP
— 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗩𝗙𝗖 𝗙𝗮𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗳𝘂𝗹 (@theavfcfaithful) July 20, 2023
Let’s hope we all wake to news of Diaby’s capture, as then we can move on to the next one!
With tweaks being made and arrivals coming in, we do have a few departures, and Marvelous Nakamba is the latest, as he will now build on his successful loan spell out with Luton Town last year, having now joined them on a permanent deal as they prepare for life in the Premier League.
He leaves having made 68 appearances for us in total, and Luton should be a good fit for him as he’s clearly well liked by their fans based on his efforts for them so far.
Another recent departure was goalkeeper Viljami Sinisalo. Having a good spell out with Scottish side Ayr a few seasons back, he didn’t have a great spell with Burton Albion last season as they struggled and he was eventually recalled, but the 21 year old now heads to Exeter City to really bolster his experience, and it should prove to be a very fruitful spell for him I imagine.
